300 Years in The Meat Trade

<

In the 1830’s, the butcher shop was run by Austin Heaney, Master Butcher. Austin’s son John opened a butcher shop in Abbeygate Street, where Powells used to live opposite the Pro-Cathedral. By a strange co-incidence, some years ago, when a member of the family, the builder Noel Heaney was asked to remove the plaster from the façade of Powell’s house, he uncovered a sign which read ‘John Heaney, Butcher’.

John handed the business over to his son Michael, who was born in the building at the corner of Church Street (where Geraghty’s is today). Michael subsequently opened his own shop at the end of Abbeygate Street c. 1860. He was married twice, had a son Mike by his first wife. She passed away and he re-married, this time to Julia Newell from Annaghdown. Our main photograph today shows Michael, Julia, son Mike, daughter Josephine and son Peter outside the shop c. 1890.

Michael’s brother John --- also known as Jack---- had a butcher shop in an entry further up Abbeygate Street (where Central Park is today). The brothers did not always see eye to eye. John’s son was Rúcán, who also worked in the entry.

Michael had two sons, Paul , who took over the running of the Abbeygate Street shop which finally closed down about 20 years ago, and Peter, who initially lived in Corrib Terrace but eventually moved to Bowling Green. In the 1950’s, Peter opened up his own butcher shop there. He had a large yard at the rear of the premises which ran almost the length of Bowling Green. Our second photograph was taken in 1960 and shows Peter with his sons Paul and John in a room at the back of the shop where they prepared the meat. Peter, who was a terrific storyteller, handed this shop on to Paul.

John took over Gilligan’s butcher shop in Dominick Street and set up on his own, as you can see in our 3rd photograph. He expanded the business, opening a branch in Leitir Mór, another in Carraroe and one in Castlelawn Heights which is now run by his daughter and her husband. John was adventurous and started and export business. For a while, he was shipping meat to Russia, but then the rouble was devalued, making the Irish products too expensive for the Russians, so the business began to evolve from retail to wholesale. John trained his sons Kenneth and Shayne into the trade, and after he retired, they took over the firm and expanded it into a countywide operation. They moved into a purpose built state-of-the-art factory in Liosbán Estate on the Tuam Road in the mid 1990’s, and from there, they distribute meats and delicatessen to every county in Ireland. Their innovation, hard work and dedication, together with a willingness to invest in the most modern production facilities, machinery and staff training, have turned Heaney Meats into a genuine 300-year-old Galway success story.